


A Trap Laid With Honey

by NamelesslyNightlock



Series: Going Down Swinging [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Denial, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Intervention, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Tony Stark, Pining, The Avengers Are Good Bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 16:59:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18608722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NamelesslyNightlock/pseuds/NamelesslyNightlock
Summary: The Avengers decide to hold an intervention, but there really is no need. There’s nothing unspoken between Tony and Loki, because they really are justfriends.…right?





	A Trap Laid With Honey

**Author's Note:**

> When I looked at this prompt, my brain went 'ooooh angsty.' So then, of course, I decided to challenge myself and make it... _not_.  
>   
> (There's a _chance_ that this is the first of a few in that regard, just a head's up.)  
>   
>  **Prompt** — _“I know it hurts.”_

Tony did _not_ want to be here– and neither, if the scowl on his face was any indication, did Loki.

They didn’t even _need_ an intervention, let alone one with banners, and streamers, and Thor yelling about how happy he was that ‘this is finally happening’, whatever _this_ was supposed to be, that is.

And, okay, so the cake was a nice touch, even if it had been the bait that had coaxed Tony to the Avengers’ common floor and into the trap in the first place.

He couldn’t help but wonder what they had used to ensnare Loki, but he doubted they’d give him an answer if he asked. And besides, he wasn’t all that keen on risking making Loki angry while he was currently _attached_ to the guy and therefore incapable of running away from any magical explosions.

“Okay, guys,” Tony said slowly. “You had your fun. You got us, ha ha, well done– you can let us go, now.”

Most them remained stoic, but there was one, _one_ person in the room who shifted a little, his stern mask faltering, and so Tony’s gaze zeroed in on him.

“Peter,” Tony said, making sure he didn’t sound like he was _begging_ – because he wasn’t, not really. He was just _annoyed_. “Peter, come on, I know you didn’t really have a hand in this.”

Peter arched an incredulous brow, and ran his gaze over the webs that wrapped around both Tony and Loki’s waists, holding them locked side by side, forcing them to throw their arms over each other’s shoulders to be even somewhat comfortable. And then Tony realised that the twitch of Peter’s lips had been an almost-giggle, not a nervous tick. _Goddamn it_.

“Come on Peter,” Tony whined. “Not even if I pay for your college tuition?”

“They’re not going to let us go, Anthony,” Loki sighed. “Not until they have what they want.”

Tony sighed heavily, knowing that Loki was right.

And, honestly, if this were anything else, Tony might have been happy to play along. But not with something so utterly _ludicrous._ They thought that there was more here than there actually was, not being able to understand the easy friendship that he and Loki had been able to forge.

To make matters worse, all of the Avengers had assembled for this– really, _all of them_.

Thor had finally calmed down, though he was grinning far too gleefully to be considered an ally in this situation. Clint was holding up a video camera and Natasha just looked bored, though the fact that she was still watching betrayed the expression as a façade. Even Steve was there– Tony had heard him mutter something disapprovingly, though Tony _saw_ that smile and he knew the mutter was just for show.

And god, even Rhodey was there, clearly trying not to laugh. And unless Tony was mistaken – and he was quite sure that he wasn’t – that was Rhodey’s handwriting on those godforsaken banners proclaiming this to be the bloody _Intervention to Stop All This Fucking UST–_ or, it would have done, if someone hadn’t then ironically tried to scribble out the ‘fucking’ with a sharpie. Hilarious.

Basically, Rhodey was fucking traitor.

Well. Whatever, there was one sure-fire way of getting out of here, even _if_ there were traitors all round.

“JARVIS, get me a suit,” Tony said. “Iron Man can break through the webs—”

“Sir, I think in this moment, I am going to have to deny your request,” JARVIS interrupted.

“There is no loyalty in this house,” Tony declared loudly, throwing back his head– and nearly dislodging Loki’s arm in the process.

“I believe that it is in your best interests, Sir.”

“ _Oh for–_ JARVIS, this is ridiculous,” Tony snapped. “All of you, just…” The noise that he made was a groan and a yell and a _complaint_ , a frustrated gnash of teeth and a clench of fists.

Loki was Tony’s _friend_. And sure, okay, so they fit together better than Tony had with anyone else before. So what if Loki made him smile, and so what if _Loki’s_ smile made Tony go all warm inside, especially when it was that small, soft upturn of lips that sometimes Tony thought might be reserved just for him? So what if Tony knew that Loki was his most important person, that he would step through any number of trials and tribulations if it meant that he could keep Loki by his side?

None of that mattered, none of it was going to turn into what the Avengers were so clearly hoping it would– and not only because Loki didn’t see Tony that way.

They were _friends_ , and that meant that it was fine. Because Tony was good at friends, he could hold on to friends forever– and maybe he wasn’t quite ready to lose Loki just yet.

“Okay, look,” Rhodey said, stepping forward. He crouched before them where they were sat on the floor, and placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

Tony narrowed his eyes.

“I know it hurts,” Rhodey said, his voice mockingly gentle and not quite hiding his amused smile. “But you’re both just going to _have_ to accept that you’re capable of feelings.”

“I know I’m capable of feelings,” Tony snapped. “Just let me go—”

“I know you don’t like emotions,” Rhodey continued. “But you’re feeling them anyway.”

“ _Friendly_ emotions,” Tony insisted. “We’re _friends_.”

Rhodey raised a brow with a _suuuure you are_ kind of tilt to his lips, and Tony glanced to the side to see if he could get some backup, only to be somewhat surprised to find that Loki wasn’t scowling any more.

In fact, Tony realised, Loki wasn’t… well, he wasn’t complaining about it as much as Tony was. He should have been even _more_ irritated with this, about being tied up and attached to a mortal, and accused of having ‘feelings’. But rather than irritation there was something pained in his gaze as he glanced between Tony and Rhodey, the corner of his mouth turned down.    

The moment Loki noticed that Tony was looking at him, he glanced away, his stony expression falling back into place as he pinned a few of the Avengers with a glare.

That just left Tony staring at him in confusion, wondering about the fact that Loki wasn’t complaining, and he wasn’t _denying_ anything.

And also, now that Tony thought about it– Spider-Man’s webs were strong, but they wouldn’t be enough to hold Loki if he really wanted to get out. A single blast of Loki’s magic or a flick of one of the daggers he no doubt had hidden up his sleeve would have been enough to free them, and yet– Loki hadn’t.

Tony’s eyes widened with sudden realisation.

_Oh._

“Loki,” Tony whispered, causing the mage’s gaze to flick back to his, hesitant and uncertain. “Do you…”

Something in Loki’s eyes stuttered, his lips twisted, and then he vanished on the spot, leaving Tony covered in spider webs and alone with a pile of the Avengers.

Well. Shit.

Tony turned his gaze on every single face in the room, knowing that he must have looked completely and utterly stunned.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Rhodey asked incredulously. “Go _after_ him.”

It was probably tribute to how little Tony was thinking that he simply up and _ran_ , being able to move since the web had loosened at Loki’s disappearance. He could hear the others cheering him on as he went, but he paid them no notice. JARVIS didn’t hinder Tony this time as he made his way to the door, tripping a little over the trails of spiderwebs that he couldn’t quite get unstuck. If the elevator’d had buttons he would have jabbed his fingers at them impatiently, but as it were he was merely left tapping his foot while JARVIS closed the doors at what felt like the _slowest possible pace ever_.

In the back of his mind, a tiny, smug little voice that sounded way too much like Rhodey asked him _why_ he was in such a hurry—

And to be honest, Tony didn’t really know.

He and Loki had been friends for a long time now, the closest of friends, and he had held on to that fact with the kind of possessiveness that didn’t allow for anything else– but they were not romantic in any sense of the word. And yeah, so maybe there had been… moments, and maybe sometimes he’d _wished_ that things could be different. But things _weren’t_ , and he was more than happy with what they had, because being friends with Loki was the best thing in the world. It was easy to remember that, when he knew that wanting more would only result in him losing what he had.

Yet… if this was true, if Loki really did want something more… then maybe there was a chance for something even _better_.

But he _did_ know that despite all that, despite everything and no matter how either of them felt, Loki was still Tony’s friend, and he was not going to sit by and do nothing when Loki was so obviously hurting.

When Tony stepped out of the elevator it was to find Loki pacing in his own lounge room, his hair a mess from his hands running through it and his eyes a little red around the edges. Tony wasn’t entirely sure what he had been expecting– perhaps anger, maybe denial. But, regardless, he certainly had _not_ been expecting a smile.

It was small and wounded and a little bit broken, but it was a smile nonetheless.

“Hello, Anthony,” he said quietly.

“Lokes?” Tony stepped a little closer, no longer bothering about the remnants of the webs that brushed over his legs. He knew that he must look just as much a mess as Loki did, dirty and hurried and _worried_ , but neither of them cared. He just wanted to make sure that Loki was okay.

“Nothing has to change between us,” Loki said, his voice gentle as if he were promising a favour. “I know that they meant well, but they don’t know _us_. I like the way the way we are.”

“Do you?” Tony asked, feeling quite certain that Loki would prefer it if they were just a little _more._

“I would not wish to lose your friendship,” Loki said firmly, seemingly unaware of the way that his arms had wrapped around his middle– but Tony wasn’t, and something deep inside him ached at the sight.

“So why didn’t you get us out of these?” Tony asked, trying to be gentle as well but not quite managing to hold back the accusatory tone. “You could have broken free right from the start, saved us the trouble.”

“I could have,” Loki agreed hesitantly, though he didn’t comment on the rest.

And Tony probably shouldn’t have said it, but he remembered wondering how Loki had managed to be tricked into the intervention in the first place, and… well, he thought he had finally worked out what his bait might have been.

“Did you stay… in the hopes that I might kiss you?”

Loki closed his eyes then, and drew in a breath as if fortifying himself. “No, Anthony,” he said as he looked to Tony again, his voice level but sad. “I was staying with the hope that you might care for me as well.”

It was clear that Loki didn’t think it was possible anymore, and as Tony thought back on what he had said, it was more than obvious _why_.

But the thing was… the more Tony thought about it, the more he realised that he had been _wrong_. There was something more than friendship between them, something that had been smouldering below the surface for a while and showing in touches that lingered, smiles that were soft, and words that held more promises than either of them had wanted to recognise.

And as Tony considered the hundreds of different things that he could say to Loki now, he knew that there was only one that would lead to the future he wanted.

“You’ll _always_ be my friend,” Tony said, stepping close and lifting his hand to cup the side of Loki’s face, stroking his cheek with his thumb. Loki’s eyes closed as he leaned into the touch, hiding the pain in them and only letting Tony see the relieved smile. “Always, okay? That’s never going to change, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t be something else as well.”

Loki froze under Tony’s hand at that, and his green eyes snapped open. “What?” he breathed.

“I didn’t think of you that way before,” Tony said, sliding his hand back so that his fingers could thread though Loki’s hair instead, leaning a little closer so he could feel Loki’s breath ghosting across his lips. “I was too afraid of ruining what we had. But now I _am_ thinking about it, and… I think that this is something I would like to try.”

“Truly?” Loki asked

“Yes,” Tony confirmed.

And then their lips were touching, pressing together in a sweet kiss. It was more than Tony ever could have imagined, and everything that he could have hoped, sending electricity skittering over every nerve and guiding his hands as he tugged Loki closer still.

Even when they parted they stayed close, leaning together with their arms looped over each other’s shoulders and smiles dancing over their lips. Neither of them were all that keen on moving, too caught up in each other, all too happy to stay exactly where they were. And besides, they didn't particularly want to go back upstairs to deal with ‘I told you so’s, either.

The Avengers could wait– he and Loki had found something sweet and new to explore, and for that, they were willing to give all the time in the world.


End file.
